


yet another field trip fic

by lellowix



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Minor Original Character(s), Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28846581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lellowix/pseuds/lellowix
Summary: You all know the drill by now. Surprise field trip, Tony Stark being... Tony Stark, etc etc etc. I tried to do some things differently so this wouldn't get lost in the sea of field trip fics, since this is like some sort of rite of passage for marvel fanfic writers.Enjoy!
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 26
Kudos: 505





	yet another field trip fic

It was a normal day the first time they saw him.

At Stark Industries, specifically Stark Tower, everyone knew everyone else. It probably had to do with the strict security measures - no one wanted to get on Happy Hogan’s bad side. Badges were to be worn at all times, and every time a new employee was hired, they were introduced to the rest so as to not be mistaken for a trespasser.

So, when the interns of the Research and Development department saw a small teenager slip out of lab three early one morning, no one knew what to do. They just watched as the badgeless boy walked down the hallway towards the elevator, his face buried in his phone and a strange, wire-filled contraption tucked under one arm.

Of course, people were skeptical. Sure, a half dozen interns swore they saw this mysterious boy, but they were interns. Everyone knows how college students' brains can get the day after a wild party. So the incident was dismissed as a prank or some sort of group hallucination by every employee over the age of 25. Until one week later, on one of the upper floors dedicated to the board members' private offices and break rooms - one of the most highly-secured sections of the most technologically advanced building in the country.

Jeremy Abathon, the head of HR, was walking to the closest breakroom to get a cup of strong coffee after having to deal with Tony Stark’s latest antics. It had most definitely been a long day for Jeremy, because although the billionaire was no longer the CEO of Stark Industries, he was the boyfriend of the CEO and his name was still plastered on the side of the building. Yet, somehow, he didn’t seem to be able to comprehend with all his supposed genius that it simply wasn’t acceptable to buy out the entire movie theater for the premiere of the most anticipated movie of the year just “because he can”. And, unfortunately for Jeremy, this was only the latest in a long line of stunts that he needed to somehow spin into a good light for the press.

And that’s how Jeremy found himself walking semi-blindly towards his 3rd cup of coffee that day, massaging the bridge of his nose while muttering possible justifications to use in the inevitable press conference that afternoon. As he approached the sliding glass door that opened up into the immaculate break room, he saw the outline of someone already in front of the coffee machine, pouring hot liquid into a mug carefully.

Without a second glance at the person, Jeremy traipsed through the entryway and plopped down onto the soft armchair, resigning himself to the fact that he would have to wait another 15 seconds for his caffeination, which, to him, seemed unbearable. He glanced back towards the coffeemaker on the counter, doing a double-take when he realized the person was nowhere in sight and the coffee pot was empty. Now fully awake, he turned his head the opposite direction, towards the door, quick enough to catch a glimpse of a short figure rounding the corner. Sprinting towards the exit, he turned the corner to see… nothing. Where he could have sworn the brown-haired teen would be was just empty air and a few swirling dust mites.

Let’s just say the rumors really took off after that. Every week, a new person would go up to their colleague swearing up and down they had just seen a small teenager with curly brown hair in the labs, or getting coffee, or maybe just hanging around by the conference rooms. Theories abounded among the staff, from the teen being Tony Stark’s illegitimate son to the ghost of an intern who had died in an experiment a few years ago. By the employees of Stark Tower, the boy was only referred to as “the teen”. It was a mark of the community among the staff that you could bring up “the teen” in any conversation and everyone would know who - or what - you were talking about.

“The teen” became a bit of an urban legend among the staff. The boy could consistently be seen doing mundane things around the tower, but as soon as you tried to approach him or even get a closer look, he would disappear without a trace. Whenever these rumors reached Tony Stark, however, all he would do is give an amused grin and walk off.

A few weeks later, and somehow the subject of the wild gossip around the tower still had not learned of the ruckus he was causing. By this time, an unofficial brigade had been organized among the staff with the sole purpose of cornering “the teen” and figuring out who he was.

Of course, the boy's continued bewilderment to his notoriety was in no way the fault of Tony Stark. Of course, the billionaire didn't send his personal intern down to the lower level floors more often than strictly necessary. And he certainly didn't offer a highly sought-after field trip to a certain class at Midtown High just so he could show off the genius of a boy he had come to regard as something akin to a son.

~~

When Peter first heard about the field trip, he was actually pretty excited. Despite having an internship at Stark Towers, he was rarely on the lower floors for anything other than coffee when Mr. Stark's personal coffee machine broke (which was fairly more often than was entirely believable), or to drop off blueprints or assignments in one lab or another. He had heard of so many attractions at the tower that sounded amazing, but not more scintillating than working in the labs with his childhood hero. So, naturally, he hadn't been able to drag himself away from the technology wonderland to go see the company's history museum since he had started working there.

However, as the permission slip was signed and the weeks remaining until the day of the field trip slipped away, Peter felt the buzz of anticipation fizzle into just a shred, most of it replaced by apprehension. Whether it was the increase in Flash's mockery and taunts, or the strange attitude Mr. Stark had adopted, something felt off about the upcoming excursion.

Despite Peter's prayers for a snow day vigorously intensifying, the Friday of the outing dawned with clear skies and cold, crisp air. It stung his nose as he boarded the cacophonous bus and took a seat near the middle, next to his best friend Ned.

“Hey man, what’s up with you?” Ned asked, noting the sour expression on Peter’s face.

“Nothing.”

“No, really. Your face is doing this scrunchy frowny thing that I have honestly never seen before.” Ned tilted his head at his despondent friend, worried at the lack of cheerfulness usually displayed by the boy. “Is something wrong?”

“I just have, I don’t know, a bad feeling about today,” Peter muttered, sighing and shifting in his seat restlessly.

“Like a-” Ned looked around furtively, then leaned in. “Like a Peter-tingle bad feeling?” Peter looked at Ned, exasperated.

“Dude, I told you not to call it that. And I don’t know. It just kinda feels like something’s going to happen.” Peter took his earbuds out of his backpack and put them in, effectively ending the conversation as Ned started rambling about going to Stark Tower.  
As the bus pulled into the parking lot, Peter’s dread only increased. The hundred floors of reflective glass, usually a cause for excitement for him, elicited a strange sinking feeling in his stomach. His classmates, however, didn’t seem to be feeling the same apprehension. Every one of them was pressed up against the windows of the bus, fogging the glass with their breath.

“Alright, everyone, back in your seats,” Mr. Warren said from the front of the bus. “We have a set of rules here before we enter the building. First, no touching. Almost everything in that building is rare, expensive, or both. We’ll be visiting one of the Research and Development intern labs, where some of you could possibly be working in a few years. I want to impress upon you the importance of making a good impression, not just for your reputation in the eyes of Stark Industries, but for our school’s. We’re one of the most prestigious science and technology-based high schools in New York, and I’d appreciate it if none of you messed that up.”

By now, most of the teenagers were shifting in their seats impatiently. Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, shooting a glance at the tower on his right before refocusing his attention on the teacher, who was just turning to the last page of his papers.

“And, lastly, this is a functioning workplace, and it is the middle of the day. The tour guide will be able to answer any of your questions, so please don’t talk to any of the employees - they’re probably busy.” The students muttered, obviously unhappy with this particular rule.

Peter’s class grabbed their backpacks and stood up, exiting the bus with a rise in volume. Peter followed them outside, shivering in the cold air and then into the warm lobby. He ran into the person in front of him as they stopped suddenly, staring in awe at the immaculate lobby. Men and women in suits bustled about, and Peter shrank away from a woman as she brushed past him, almost hitting him with her briefcase.

Now Peter knew why Mr. Stark always insisted he swing to the tower and enter via the balcony. The noise in the foyer was overwhelming by itself, but with his enhanced hearing, it was nearly unbearable. He shoved his earbuds more firmly in his ears, accidentally elbowing the person next to him. He glanced around and apologized softly, eyes wide and amazed by the elaborate decor.

Peter startled as he realized that his class was no longer surrounding him, and spotted Ned urgently motioning him over from the group, who had apparently found the tour guide over by the reception counter. As he made his way over to them, the guide’s voice began to cut through the general hubbub of the room.

“-already gone over the rules, correct?” Mr. Warren nodded, and the guide continued. “That’s great! Means less work for me. So, why don’t we do introductions? I’m Sarah, and I’m an intern in SI’s Management department. I’ll be your tour guide today. I’m assuming you guys are the class from Midtown?”

“That’s right,” Mr. Warren agreed. “And, if you don’t mind me asking, the information that was sent mentioned that students could bring their own lunch or buy it here. Will we be eating in a room with the employees on lunch break?”

“Yeah, you’re going to have lunch in the staff cafeteria. Why do you ask?”

“Well, some of the students were disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to talk to any of the scientists. Do you think any of them would be willing to answer some questions while we eat?” Ned’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Peter excitedly as Sarah contemplated the question.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you found a couple people in the cafeteria willing to talk about their work. But we’ll have to see, it’s up to them. Anyways, lunch isn’t for a few hours, so let’s get started with the tour.” Sarah grabbed a box from the counter behind her and pulled out a plastic badge with a clip, holding it up so everyone could see. “This is what your badges look like. I’ll hand them out in a minute. As you can see, they’re guest passes, so they’ll only work for one day. They’ll get you into every room we’re visiting on the tour today, the cafeteria, bathrooms, and not much else. So, you know, don’t go trying to wander off.”

“If you could all line up, that would be great.” She waited patiently as the teenagers jostled each other until they somewhat resembled a straight line, then walked to one end and started passing out badges.

“The first place we’ll be going is to the Stark Industries History Museum, which documents the company’s achievements from the time of its founding all the way through today,” Sarah declared, handing the last badge to Mr. Warren. “Follow me, please.”

Peter’s class trailed after Sarah into an elevator, where she asked Friday to take them to the fourth floor. Many of his classmates looked surprised at the use of the AI in such an everyday situation. They exited the elevator on the fourth floor and followed Sarah through the maze of hallways towards the museum. Walking through the halls with his class, Peter got a few weird looks from employees, but he didn’t think much of it. When they arrived at the museum, it was mostly empty, and the students fanned out to look at the exhibits.

Peter and Ned walked over to the first display, glancing disdainfully at the majority of the class, who were booking it over to the more recent history - the stuff about Iron Man, of course. Peter knew it was interesting, but the past of this company in particular was uniquely fascinating - the other kids were just migrating towards the shiniest thing they could see. It was embarrassing.

He and Ned worked their way around the room, reading every display thoroughly. After they finished looking at a picture taken at the first Stark Expo, Ned turned to Peter with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Have you been here before? I mean, to the museum? Obviously you’ve been to the tower before.”

Peter leaned against the wall, watching a couple of his classmates fawn over a replica of the first Iron Man suit. “No, I’ve never really had the time to come down to this particular floor. Because I’m Mr. Stark’s personal intern, I spend most of my time in his lab, so I only go to the lower floors every so often when I need to deliver something or if the coffee maker’s broken.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Sarah called everyone back over to the elevator and started talking about the next thing on the itinerary.

“Alright, next we’re going up to the third R&D intern lab! I know you guys are really excited for this part, so I’m going to remind you of the first rule: no touching. Some of the materials the R&D folks work with are dangerous or easily breakable, so hands off.”

Peter brought up the rear of the group as they loaded back into the elevator and up to the seventeenth floor. As they got off and walked down the corridor towards the cluttered lab, Peter realized that this was the lab he worked in a couple months ago, the first time he had stayed overnight at the tower.

That was a fond memory - he had come down to the seventeenth floor for a piece of replacement equipment after Dum-E broke something, and had ended up getting distracted and making a whole new invention using the things he found in the lab. He had been so focused on his side project that he had fallen asleep in that very lab at around five in the morning. He had only woken up when Mr. Stark sent a message through Friday after realizing that the boy had not, in fact, gone home for the night ten hours before. It was with an apology, a yawn, and a strange home-made device that Peter had been driven back home to an utterly frantic Aunt May.

Nostalgia filled Peter as he followed his classmates into the lab, leaning against the wall a little way away from them and studying the projects of the college students currently working there. However, he was drawn out of his thoughts when one of the interns glanced up at the high school students but did a double take when his gaze passed Peter, staring with wide eyes at the befuddled teen.

The man stared for a couple seconds, then elbowed the woman working next to him, whispering something in her ear. Soon enough, all six of the interns were gaping at Peter in awe, along with his classmates (though they were staring at both him and the interns in clearly discernible confusion. At this point, Peter was very uncomfortable, so he cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. Tense whispers were passed among the baffled students.

Sarah, the tour guide, was obviously not in the loop about whatever the interns were gawking at, so she walked over to the guy who originally spotted Peter and asked him a question softly. Whatever the answer was, it caused Sarah to turn and peer at Peter with astonishment. The girl next to them got up and walked over to Peter, stopping in front of him and poking him in the arm harshly.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“So he’s not a ghost! Micah, I told you!” The intern turned back to the others, a triumphant expression on her face.

“I’m not a what?” Peter had no clue what was happening at the moment.

“A ghost, you’re not a ghost,” the girl replied. “Which I told Micah, but, of course he didn’t believe me. Because he’s a stubborn dumbass.”

“Hey!” the boy snapped, miffed. “He’s always disappearing all over the place, Natalie, tell me that doesn’t scream ‘ghost’ to you!”

“Well, he’s not a ghost, so we’re going with the ‘Tony Stark’s illegitimate son’ theory.”

Peter choked.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“See? He can talk, so just ask him,” another intern piped up. Her british accent was crisp amongst the murmurs of the high school students. “Honestly, you people are supposed to be smart.” Natalie spun back to face Peter, who was extremely distressed by this point.

“Hold up!” Peter held his hands up in the universal sign for ‘stop’. “Do you mind telling me why exactly you think I’m Mr. Stark’s son?”

“Well, I mean, everyone always sees you running around the tower, and you never seem to have a badge- until now, I guess,” Natalie said, gesturing to the badge hanging around Peter’s neck. “You never seem to get caught and kicked out, either. With all that, you being Stark’s son just seems like the most likely possibility.”

“Not to mention the fact that whenever anyone brings up the topic with the man, he just gives a knowing smile and walks away,” the british intern cut in.

“Well, I’m not his son.”

“And you’re sure you’re not a ghost, either?” Micah was still looking at Peter with a wary gaze. Peter stared at him in disbelief.

“I’m pretty sure I would know if I was a ghost,” he replied incredulously. The intern with the accent rolled her eyes.

“Natalie’s right, Micah, you are a stubborn dumbass.”

Sarah cleared her throat to interrupt what would probably be a very well thought-out insult on the part of Micah, and every eye swiveled in her direction. She shot a dubious squint at Peter and a glare at the other interns before she spoke up.

“If we’re done with this, these Midtown students are here to learn about the company and what we do here. Which does not include speculating about illegitimate children, thank you very much. So, if the class could split into six groups, one for each intern, I would greatly appreciate it.” Sarah’s words were clipped, and she was obviously trying to regain some sort of control over the situation.

The perplexed students slowly divided into groups, grabbing their friends and choosing an intern to work with. Peter headed over to the british intern with Ned, thinking that she probably would freak out the least. She reminded him a bit of MJ, actually, who was in a different group. Even without looking around the room, Peter could tell that many intrigued gazes were trained on him, from the interns and his classmates alike. He felt an uneasy prickle on the back of his neck as he sat down between the intern and Ned.

“Alright, everyone.” The british intern clapped her hands, startling everyone in the group. “My name is Amaya. I’m currently working on a project that will work to combat greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, specifically those released from manufacturing and similar processes.”

An hour later of helping Amaya with her project, Peter was extremely hungry. It seemed like it had been days since he got off the bus. Luckily, as he was finishing up the last parts of his summary of the project (it was a required assignment, to be turned in the next day at school), Sarah called the class over to the door and told them that they would be heading to the cafeteria next.

“Peter.” He turned around to see Amaya motioning him back to her table. “Come here for a second.” He shuffled over, a bit apprehensive and expecting questions.

“I don’t know who you are.” Peter opened his mouth to speak, but Amaya held up her hand to stop him. “Just let me say this. I don’t know who you are, but if I’ve learned anything about you from your work today, you deserve to be here. You’re young, but you’re brilliant. It’s no wonder that Stark himself took an interest in you. I’m not much of a fortune teller, but I know one thing: whatever you choose to do with your life, you will end up changing the world. You’re special. Remember that.”

Stunned and blushing, Peter stuttered a thank you and ran out of the lab to catch up with his classmates. As they made their way up to the lunchroom, Peter ran over the events of the day in his head. They were almost surreal, and yet, knowing Mr. Stark, things were far from over. The man couldn’t have known that the interns would recognize Peter, and even if he did, this was possibly the most over-dramatic man on the planet. Peter was sure the billionaire had something else planned. After all, the day was just barely half over.

~~

“Boss, Peter has arrived at the cafeteria.”

“Thanks, Friday. I’m heading down now.” Tony Stark stood up from where he was sitting on the couch and started walking towards his private elevator, buttoning the front of his spotless suit as he went.

“How do I look, Fri?” the man said, twirling a bit, even though he knew the AI could already see him from all angles.

“Exquisite as always, sir,” the disembodied voice answered with just the slightest hint of sarcasm. “Now, if you would proceed to the cafeteria, we might only end up moderately late for our cue.”

“Right.”

He walked towards the elevator and got in, asking Friday to take him down to the twenty-third floor. As he walked towards the halls towards the cafeteria, he got a few strange looks - he was rarely seen on this low of a floor. He stopped in one of the quieter hallways adjacent to the lunchroom, peering through the glass until he spotted Peter heading towards one of the tables with a couple other kids his age.

“See, Friday?” He addressed the ceiling. “Not late.” The ceiling did not provide a response.

Surveying the area, Tony couldn’t help but shudder at the state of it: there were food scraps all over the floor, and nothing in the room looked as if it had been washed in the past month and a half.

“Fri, why am I doing this again? This place is absolutely disgusting, I wouldn’t be caught dead in there.”

“You’re doing this, sir, because you love Peter like a son, and like all parental figures, you have the innate urge to prove to the world that he is as brilliant, special, and perfect as you know him to be. It’s known as affection.”  
“Right, of course, how could I forge-”

“In addition, you have the instinctive and slightly sadistic compulsion common to fathers to demonstrate said affection in the most embarrassing manner conceivable, in the presence of as many people as possible.”

“Well-” Tony protested, then thought for a moment. “Yeah, alright, I guess that’s true.”

He straightened his collar and adjusted his cuffs, then adopted his trademark paparazzi smile.

“It’s showtime.”

~~

Peter was just sitting down and rooting through his backpack for his lunch box when the noise level in the cafeteria took a sharp upswing. He rolled his eyes at the ground and looked up to find that the situation he had foreseen (and dreaded) was happening right in front of his eyes: Tony Stark, billionaire extraordinaire, was strolling casually through the lowest level cafeteria in the building, straight towards Peter.

Every eye was following the man as he weaved between the tables and called out when he was about twenty feet from Peter.

“Hey, Pete!”

Peter huffed an agitated sigh as every starstruck gaze flicked to him. Ned turned to him with wide eyes and elbowed him in the ribs.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?”

“You forgot your lunch. I made you something upstairs, come eat with me,” Mr. Stark smirked.

“But my lunch is right-” Searching his backpack, he could see that the lunchbag he had packed that morning was, in fact, missing. “What did you do with my lunch, Mr. Stark?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, kid,” the man chuckled. “Come on, I have some food upstairs for you. You can work on your project while you eat, too, how about that?” He walked over to Peter and put a hand on his shoulder decisively.

“Mr. Stark, I really think I’m supposed to stay-”

“Up you get, Petey.” Mr. Stark stepped back with a smile, and Peter stood reluctantly. The man threw an arm around his kid’s shoulders affectionately and led him over to the exit, ignoring the stares following the pair in favor of conversing with Peter.

“Anyways, I have an equation I’m having some problems with. I was hoping you could take a look at it,” Mr. Stark said, talking louder than strictly necessary.

“Uh, sure.” He glanced over at his mentor, voicing his confusion in a whisper. “What are you doing?”

"Just go with it for now," Mr. Stark replied, maintaining his easy smile. They reached the exit of the cafeteria, and the door slid closed behind them, cutting off the gazes of Stark employees and Midtown students alike.

"Mr. Stark, what did you do?" Peter spun to face the man, his expression hovering between confused and annoyed.

“With your lunch? I paid a couple of the interns to distract you and steal it.”

“No, the-” Peter registered what Mr. Stark had said. “Wait, that was you? You paid Amaya to say those nice things?”

“What? No, I just told them to distract you.” The billionaire looked at Peter curiously. “Why, what did she say?”

“Oh. Um, nothing,” Peter muttered, smiling when he remembered the intern’s compliment. “But, what I meant was, what was that whole scene in the lunchroom?”

"That was in response to the rumors that have been floating around here about you. They thought you were a ghost, can you believe it?"

"Actually, most of them thought I'm your illegitimate son, so please explain how your actions help at all with that situation." Peter started pacing back and forth in the hallway, trying to wrap his mind around everything that happened.

"Well, you practically are my illegitimate son."

Peter stared at the man.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you might as well be my son, you come here after school, and you stay overnight, and you have your own room in the penthouse, so-" Mr. Stark's words had an uncharacteristically nervous tone to them, and he looked at Peter unsurely. "What I'm trying to say is that I asked your Aunt for joint guardianship, so if anything happens to her, you'll end up with me, instead of in a foster home or orphanage or whatever."

"You- you did what, now?"

"I'm your legal guardian now. What I'm saying is, how would you like to be my semi-legitimate son?"

Peter gaped at the man standing in front of him, his hero, not believing what was happening.

"Am I dreaming?" he muttered.

"No, kid," Mr. Stark laughed. "So, what do you say?"

Peter threw himself into the man's arms, nearly knocking him backwards.

"I would love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this had a good balance of indulging the tried-and-true clichés and deviating from them. I wrote this a year or so ago, and my writing style has definitely evolved since then, but I thought that I shouldn't let these 5k words or so go to waste.
> 
> :)


End file.
